Research Interests

My research investigates culturally responsive approaches to elementary reading instruction; examines vision as a conceptual and practical tool for preparing reading teachers for diversity; and explores the use of multicultural and global literature in reading preparation coursework. In addition, I am initiating a research project to understand how African American students in grades 3-5 envision themselves as readers using drawings as a medium for expressing literate identities and cultural practices.

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Professional Biography

Dr. Jennifer Danridge Turner is Associate Professor in Reading Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a specialization in Literacy from Michigan State University. Dr. Turner’s scholarship centers on a) responsive and rigorous instruction for African American elementary readers, b) preparing K-5 reading teachers for diversity and globalizing reading teacher education, and c) college and career literacies and readiness in K-5 schools. Her research projects have been funded through numerous grants, including the Qualitative Research Interest Group (QRIG) grant from the Consortium on Race, Gender, and Ethnicity at the University of Maryland; Global Awareness in Teacher Education (GATE) fellowship from the Longview Foundation/UMCP; the Maryland Institute for Minority and Urban Education (MIMAUE) at the University of Maryland; and the prestigious Elva Knight Research Grant from the International Reading Association. Dr. Turner’s scholarship appears in leading academic journals, including Action in Teacher Education, The Reading Teacher, Reading Research and Instruction, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, and Literacy Teaching and Learning. Her recent book, Change is Gonna Come: Transforming Literacy Education for African American Students (with Patricia A. Edwards and Gwendolyn McMillon) won the 2011 Edward Fry Book Award from the Literacy Research Association. Dr. Turner draws upon her scholarly work in her classes, which earned her a coveted Excellence in Teaching Award for Tenure-Track Faculty from the College of Education at the University of Maryland. Dr. Turner’s new research on college and career literacies for K-5 students, and their connection to the Common Core’s English Language Arts Standards, will appear in upcoming issues of Language Arts and in a 2014 summer volume of Theory into Practice, for which Dr. Turner served as a Co-Editor.

Dr. Turner is also very active in professional organizations, serving as a member on the Board of Directors for the Literacy Research Association, as a member of the Publications Committee for the International Reading Association, and as Co-Editor of the Literacy Leadership column for the Reading Teacher. Finally, Dr. Turner is an author on National Geographic’s REACH Program (a K-5 ESL program emphasizing Language, Literacy, and Content) and REACH FOR READING Program (a K-5 comprehensive reading program), published by National Geographic School Publishing and Cengage.